Easy Frugal Cooking | Beef au Jus Sandwiches
Today's recipe isn't a particularly quick one but since it doesn't require much in the way of hands-on effort, I think it still qualifies as easy. 😉 I got it from Taste of Home and modified a couple of things.
The original recipe calls for a rump or bottom round roast, and while those do go on sale for a decent price, I'm not a big fan of the texture or flavor of those cuts of beef. So, I use a chuck roast when I make this recipe.
It doesn't slice as neatly as rump or round roasts do, but the meat is much more tender and moist, so it's a trade-off I'm willing to make.
Also, the recipe calls for adding sauteed onions to the liquid for cooking the beef, but I've found they just turn into mush after several hours in the oven. So, I leave them out. If you really want onions for your sandwiches, I'd saute them and add them to the beef a half hour or so before it's done baking.
I use homemade French bread for these sandwiches, but doing so probably removes this recipe from the "easy" category. Using French bread from the store is perfectly acceptable, and is probably a great use for those day-old bargain loaves.
Anyhow, here's how to go about making these sandwiches.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add the chuck roast and brown on all sides.
Add the garlic and saute for 60 seconds or until it's fragrant.
Combine water, soy sauce, and onion soup mix, and pour over top of the roast.
Put the lid on the Dutch oven, place in a 325 degree (F) oven, and bake for 2 ½ hours, or until meat is tender.
Remove the meat from the juices and let it stand for 10 minutes. Slice, or if you use a chuck roast like I do, pull apart into bite-sized pieces, and return the meat to the juice.
Cut a loaf of French bread in half lengthwise and then into 3-inch sections. Spread with softened butter and broil 4-6 inches from the heat for 2-3 minutes.
Top with a piece of Swiss cheese, several pieces of beef, and more Swiss cheese (I find starting with a piece of Swiss cheese makes the beef less likely to fall off the sandwich).
Broil for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve promptly...
and alongside, include little bowls of the pan juices for dipping the sandwiches.
Onion Beef au Jus
printable version (Taste of Home's version)
1 beef chuck roast (4 pounds)
2 tablespoons canola oil
5 cups water
½ cup soy sauce
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 garlic clove, minced
1 loaf (1 pound) French bread
4 tablespoons softened butter
4 ounces sliced Swiss cheese
In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, brown roast on all sides in oil; drain. Add garlic clove, and saute for 1 minute. Combine water, soy sauce, and soup mix. Pour over roast. Cover and bake at 325 ° for 2-½ hours or until meat is tender.
Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Return meat to pan juices. Slice bread in half lengthwise; cut into 3-in. sections. Spread softened butter over bread.
Place on a baking sheet. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Top with a piece of cheese, beef and several slices of cheese. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve with pan juices.
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You may also be interested in my other main dish recipes.
Yum! That looks so good. I can't wait to try it.
I assume you also have plenty of interesting leftovers as well. . .like beef stock and extra meat. Your home made bread can also be stretched over several meals, so it sounds like you are saving time by making several dishes at once!
In my house, this would not last very long!! With four boys (plus a husband), they would tear this up!
Ooh this sounds so good! I love French dip sandwiches! I don't have a dutch oven, but I think it could easily be made in a crock pot instead. And lucky me, I think I have a roast in the freezer that I could use up for this 🙂
This isn't related, but you might be able to answer it pretty simply. All I have at home for flour is the Gold Medal unbleached all purpose flour, but I wanted to buy some whole wheat flour to make my baking more healthy. The only brand that was selling anything but white flour was King Arthur, so I decided to just splurge (I don't go through flour that quickly, so a 5 lb bag will last a long time). They had 100% whole wheat flour (in a brown bag) and white whole wheat flour (in a tan bag). I went back and forth between the two and finally decided to go with the white whole wheat flour. Any idea which one is better? I was concerned the 100% wheat would have been too heavy and hard to bake with.
Erika,
You definitely chose the right flour. The white whole wheat flour makes a less dense bread, cake, etc. King Arthur is a fine brand of flour. You may want to use half white whole wheat flour and half regular all purpose flour in your baking. This is a wonderful combination and makes a very desirable bread, cupcake, etc. Hope this answers your question!
The difference between regular whole wheat and white whole wheat has to do with the grain the flour is originally ground from - "regular" is ground from hard red wheat, "white" is ground from hard white wheat.
Technically, the textures shouldn't be all that different, since both types of wheat are "hard", but I've found the color of the "white" whole wheat flour to be lighter, and therefore more pleasing to the members of my baking audience who tend towards white bread to begin with. 🙂
I would still do the half-white/half-whole ratio for most baking, unless you're going for a really coarse, dense, peasant-y loaf (like for sopping up a good bowl of beef stew or making crusty paninis).
Happy baking!
Yep, what the two readers before me said! I have golden wheat right now, so that's what I'm currently using in my whole wheat baking. Be assured that the white whole wheat is indeed whole grain.
Thanks everyone! I'm so relieved I made the right choice!
I think I'm going to try using it tonight to make an Irish Soda Bread for St. Patty's Day 🙂
Looks tasty. If I ever make it (my stash of recipes to try is well into the thousands) I'm going to add the onions. If the texture is unpleasant I'll strain them out but I want that flavor in there.
So what if I don't have a dutch oven? At my Goodwill I have never seen one! Could I use my crock pot? It looks delicious!
A dutch oven is just a big pot with a lid 🙂
Yep...an oven-safe pot with a lid, in this case. You can use a casserole dish if you don't have a Dutch oven. In fact, come to think of it, I used to do that before I had my Dutch oven!
Kristen, I noticed that your dutch oven looks a lot like a Le Crueset. Is it? How did you get that frugally? Inquiring minds want to know!
Mine is actually a Tramontina brand, and I got it on Walmart's website for $60. Cook's Illustrated recommended it as a best buy alternative to Le Crueset, and it was only available at Walmart. I'm pretty happy with it, and since the bottom is SO thick, it's great for heating up milk when I make yogurt.
Funny Ashley,
I was just going to say that to make this even easier you could stick it in the crock pot. I love the way my beef just shreds with a fork when I use my crock pot.
Does anyone have any advice for making this in a crock pot? Thanks 🙂
I'm guessing you'd want to cook it for about 8 hours on low. That's how I usually cook my chuck when I'm making BBQ beef.
YUMMY! I may have to try this. I like the idea of it on bread like that.
sounds so good. i think sauteed green peppers and onions would be yummy to add to it.
CROCK POTS:
I've made something similar in a crock pot, and it works just fine (low heat, all day) as long as you take the time to brown the meat on all sides first. Otherwise, it just doesn't have the same flavor.
And yeah, that's the voice of experience. 😛
Cook's Illustrated said the same thing about slow cooking meats...that browning them first was nigh onto essential.
This looks so yummy! What do you serve alongside these?
It depends...sometimes we have a green salad, sometimes we have fruit, sometimes we have steamed green beans. Always some sort of produce, though.
GMTA - we had this very thing tonight, and I did use a crock pot. I didn't brown the meat though, but I also didn't add any liquid, so that probably help concentrate the flavor.
I'm so excited you posted this. I saw an au Jus recipe the other day when flipping through a cookbook and wondered if it would turn out to be all that I hoped. I appreciate your voice of experience and pictures that reassure me. I'm going to make this recipe this week since now I know it will be exactly what I want. 🙂
This looks sooo good! Its on my 'menu plan' for tomorrow! Can't wait to try it out.. thanks!! 🙂
Kristin,
I have secretly been following your website for several months now, and let's just say my new found love is baking bread and repurposing old furniture...two areas I've long dreamt about perfecting in my newlywed life. Yes, I'm a wife of 10 months to the most amazing man in my world. He really loved the beef au jus sandwiches I made for dinner tonight..I'm adding it to our top 10 favorite dishes! I always love how you capture each step with pictures...it takes away the mystery that cooking new recipes often brings. I' a huge fan of your braided cheese bread, and I recently attempted your pumpkin yeast loaf but was surprisingly disappointed in the bland flavor....perhaps not enough sugar? I took the plunge and purchased a stand mixer...went with the crazy bright green color which I later returned for the "onyx black", much happier with the more subdued color! Which I believe happens to be the same color as yours...we have good taste! I'll have to post a photo of the finished bookcase I refinished and painted a lovely shade of moss...even replaced the drawer pulls. It's definitely the beginning of a new hobby. Thanks to you and your frugal mind. Blessings from a faithful reader in Tampa!
Jenny
Yes, the yeasty pumpkin bread is not NEARLY as sweet at the quick bread version, so if you were expecting that, I'm not surprised you were disappointed!
I'm so glad you liked the sandwiches, and that my blog has been helpful to you. 🙂 And yay that you have a stand mixer...I love my Kitchen-Aid so much.
Thanks for de-lurking! I love to hear from my readers. 🙂
I made these French Dips with your french bread recipe and my entire family just loved them. My 2 year old just ate the cheese bread dipped in the au jus and refered to this meal as "Dips" while we were eating it. Excellant recipe both for the beef and bread. Both of these recipe's are now officially in my keeper binder.
Thanks
Kristin
Do I still add the 5 cups water if I am making it in the crock pot? If you could answer ASAP I would appreciate it as I am going to make it today! Thanks
Michelle
Kristen, thanks again for all your help! These turned out great and my family loved them. I made the beef in the crock pot and used 3 cups of water instead of 5 and it was perfect. Made the bread too and these were very yummy.
OK...I made these for my husband, following your recipe to the letter, and when he tasted them he said "Woe, these are so good they are dangerous!" HA! Thank you for a new family favorite in our house 🙂
Loved this - made it the other night but since there's only 2 of us, I had so much leftovers that I turned it into a fabulous French onion soup!!!
Thanks for the recipe!
Could you do this with a crock pot instead of a dutch oven? I'm not even quite sure I know what the difference is between the two.
Made this for supper tonight and it was a hit with the whole family, even my two-year old. A fast and easy dish for me to throw together, especially with a newborn to keep happy. Thanks for sharing with us, Kristen!
I used the leftover meat in tacos (like brisket tacos) and they were delish!
My family loves it when I make this. The first day I make it we eat it like pot roast. I oven roast root vegetables, homade apple sauce and biscuits. The next day we have the leftovers as beef au jus sandwiches.
Looks yummy! My mom has always cooked her beef au jus sandwiches in a crockpot. Also, she puts onions in with the broth and the meat and they usually aren't SUPER soggy, despite cooking several hours.
Suggesting your homemade French Bread might take the "easy" out of this recipe for some...but, your bread is REALLY easy to make! I'm a college student and I've been teaching my friends to make bread using your recipe 🙂